The top 10 places to visit in Europe in 2018 - according to Lonely Planet

Travel guide Lonely Planet has revealed its top 10 European destinations for 2018, with one UK city included.

Dundee is placed sixth on the guide's best in Europe 2018 list, which includes Italy's food heartland of Emilia-Romagna, the northern Spanish region of Cantabria, Provence in France and Kosovo.

Once known as the home of "jute, jam and journalism", Dundee was praised for its growing cultural scene and the transformation of the city's historic waterfront, with the new V&A Dundee due to open in September.

Designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the £80 million V&A Museum of Design, Dundee opens on Saturday September 15.

Here's the top 10 in full...

1 Emilia-Romagna, Italy

(Photo: Shutterstock)

Lonely Planet says: Is Emilia-Romagna the best place to eat in Italy? With a quartetto of culinary traditions originating here, the case is strong: ragù '“ not to be confused with the misnamed spaghetti bolognese '“ hails from the delectable capital, Bologna; prosciutto di Parma comes from, you guessed it, Parma; balsamic vinegar is the pride and joy of Modena (along with Osteria Francescana, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant crowned the second-best in the world in 2017); and parmigiano reggiano (Parmesan cheese) was also born in the region.

Between wildly satisfying meals, new attractions like Bologna's FICO (the world's largest culinary theme park), Ferrara's National Museum of Italian Judaism and Shoah, and Rimini's restored Cinema Fulgor, which will soon feature a museum about legendary film-maker Federico Fellini, nourish the mind as well. Add new flights from London Stansted to Rimini, and Emilia-Romagna looks like a feast for travellers in 2018.

2 Cantabria, Spain

Lonely Planet says: The invitingly green region of Cantabria is one of Spain's unexpected treasures: a land of wild, sandy beaches, mist-shrouded mountains, enchanting villages like Santillana del Mar and Comillas, lost-in-time churches hewn from the Ebro River's sandstone banks, and some of Europe's finest prehistoric cave art.

Gateway to the region, the lively port of Santander has revitalised its waterfront with the opening of the Centro Botín '“ renowned architect Renzo Piano's startlingly modernist cultural centre '“ and this year the city welcomes new visitors thanks to the introduction of direct ferries from Ireland. Forming a jaw-dropping backdrop to it all, Spain's oldest national park, Picos de Europa, celebrates its centennial this summer, prompting a flurry of events, and offering another reason to explore the jagged peaks, alpine meadows and limestone gorges which lie to the west.

3 Friesland, the Netherlands

(Photo: Shutterstock)

Lonely Planet says: Most people visiting the Netherlands make a beeline for Amsterdam, but this year the province of Friesland is stepping into the limelight. It joins its capital Leeuwarden, a small city with a thriving cafe culture, eclectic shopping and canals lined with historic houses, as European Capital of Culture in 2018. The city is going all out with a program of installations, festivals and events, including a major exhibition in the Fries Museum inspired by one of Leeuwarden's best-known former residents: artist M.C. Escher.

Beyond the city, fertile fields criss-crossed by dykes frame a new art route '“ Sense of Place '“ that will celebrate the region's beguiling landscape, a highlight of which is the peaceful quartet of islands in the Unesco World Heritage-listed Wadden Sea, the perfect spot to escape amid sand dunes, long beaches and tidal flats.

4 Kosovo

Lonely Planet says: Continually mentioned as an on-the-cusp destination, tiny Kosovo, wedged between two mountain ranges in the heart of the Balkans, has somehow stayed below the radar of most travellers. But with the country celebrating 10 years of (albeit disputed) independence in 2018, that looks set to change.

Coursing with energy, the world's second-newest nation also boasts Europe's youngest median population '“ and it's their verve fuelling its development. The Kosovan section of the Balkans-spanning Via Dinarica hiking trail showcases the country's peak-laden landscape to dramatic effect; more film fans each summer flock to Dokufest, an acclaimed festival in the sublime Ottoman-era city of Prizren; and when the trekking and movie-going ends, the burgeoning wine region of Rahovec beckons with more than a dozen vineyards.

5 Provence, France

Lonely Planet says: Nowhere embodies the French l'art de vivre like Provence. Indulge your romantic side among the lavender fields and olive groves that have long captured the world's artistic imagination; unwind on a coast blessed with charming towns and turquoise calanques (hidden, steep-sided coves); explore chic Aix-en-Provence and bustling Marseille, which offer cool back-street bars, Michelin-starred eateries and a grittier, contemporary arts scene.

The arts continue to flourish here this year with the opening of the Fondation Carmignac exhibition space on ÃŽle de Porquerolles, plus an impressive artistic programme taking over the refurbished railway warehouses at the Frank Gehry-designed Fondation Luma in Arles. Getting to Provence will be even easier too as Eurostar reopens a direct route from London St Pancras International to Avignon and Marseille, offering services up to four days a week.

6 Dundee, Scotland